photography – Page 363 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

DIY Studio Reflector & Diffuser

Like many people venturing into photography at a more than amateur level, there is a lot of equipment to consider. Lights, diffusers, soft boxes, strobes, stands, backgrounds for studio work. Lenses and cameras to make pictures. Software for post-processing. The list is endless, and the choices are many. Because I am not interested per se in studio work, but rather intrigued by it, I don’t want to spend a lot of money investing in items I may not use more than a few times. I like making things, so I began looking at do-it-yourself projects. Amazing what is out there!

I came across plans for photographic studio equipment called “Tinker Tubes” by Dean Collins at software-cinema.com. These are really cleverly designed, easy to make, and incredibly inexpensive. I decided to make small frames to use as reflectors and diffusers, and put together frames measuring 2 x 3 feet. Being a novice to PVC pipe, primer, and glue, a small project made sense. Then, I followed Collins’ footing plans to support the frames.

The coverings were easy enough, as I’ve done a lot of sewing. I basically made pillow cases to cover the frames, using inexpensive or on-sale material from the local fabric store. I used white nylon tulle for the white diffuser, and for the reflectors a stretchy, shiny gold lame, and a woven metallic silver material. I double stitched all the seams, as well as overcast the edges to keep raveling to a minimum.

The first frame I glued at every corner with an elbow. Then I decided that, rather than just propping them up here and there, it would be a good idea to put them on a stand. I glued the feet, being careful to align the upright T-tube perpendicular to the footing. I didn’t glue the T-tube in the lower portion of the frames because I decided to use them and decide what should be glued, and what should not. Because the entire second frame is not glued at all, it can be angled, as shown above. And, both frames can be easily torn down, and different lengths attached to the footing to allow it to be set up at different angles.

Each frame is lightweight, highly portable, likely to fly away in a wind unless weighted, and dirt cheap. For both frames, including glue, primer, material, and PVC, I probably spent a total of 3-4 hours and about $25.00.

And I have leftovers!

Portrait Lighting

I’m in a small, informal group of photographers who meet with a professional in our area for lessons on whatever subject we want. There are five of us in this group, three of whom met in a short intermediate digital course. We get together about every two weeks, sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors. Our instructor has over 30 years of experience in the field of commercial photography in many levels. He’s really knowledgeable, generous in his time, and just a blast to be around.

The focus of our last get-together was portrait lighting, which we did in our instructor’s back yard in the early evening. Practical, hands-0n demonstrations are what we do. For portrait lighting there were large stands with strobes, some for the main lighting, and some for fill. The lighting stands went as high as 12 feet, and as low as 3. With a remote we can attach to our hot shoe, we were able to trigger the lights as they were set up, and individually shoot at different f/stops and times. Because we had to pass the remote around, we were able to observe as well as talk to our teacher (who is also the model) and each other. This works out really well altogether.

Full Face / Frontal Portrait

It is not generally recommended to take a portrait of someone straight into their face, especially with a flash mounted directly onto the hot shoe. This portrait is done straight on, using ambient light from the early evening. Over all, it is not a bad portrait. The f/stop provided enough detail of the face, but allowed the background to blur. This makes the subject the center of attention.

Long Side Lighting

The term “long side” means the side of the face which shows the most – or is the longest. In this case, it is on the viewer’s right (subject’s left side). The lighting came from one strobe, placed about 45 degrees into the subject, who has also turned a bit to avoid the full frontal portrait. The head is also turned away from the light. The picture on the left shows only one strobe going off, to my right side. This creates strong shadows and can have a bit of drama to it. The picture on the left had a fill light to my left set to about 1/4 intensity; this creates a softer counterpoint on the left side of the picture (subject’s right side) to fill in the short side of his face. Even though the body is turned more in the second image, and the face, the effects of using the fill light can be seen.

Short Side Lighting

Short side lighting illuminates the subject’s “short side,” which is the smaller side of the face as seen in the camera. Here, it is on the left side of the image (subject’s right side). I rather like drama of a single light on the subject’s short side. As you can see, the shadows are strong. The right side of the image shows a 1/4 intensity fill light, which softens the subject’s face, as well as brings out more detail on the long side. As in the long side portrait, the lights were about 45 degrees toward the subject.

Butterfly / Hollywood Lighting

According to our instructor, Tom, this lighting style was invented to accommodate the cavernous spaces movie studios had. As a result of the large areas, dramatic lighting points could be created. This lighting has a light directly in front of the subject, a few feet higher than the subject, and angled downward. This is obvious from the glow on the forehead! The photographer stands directly below the light. This light results in a bit of a shadow under the nose and chin of the subject. Also, notice the darker background? We were into the gloaming part of night when this was shot.

Rembrandt Lighting

This lighting technique is named after the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt van Rijn, whose dramatic lighting was his signature style. Theories behind his lighting say it is because of the poor lighting available in the 1600s. This could very well be true!

In photography, the lighting is placed to the side of the subject and photographer, up high and pointing downward. The shadow under the opposite eye is obvious, and the light from the strobe should be triangular in shape, and no wider than the subject’s eye. This is not perfectly done. Also, fill light could be used to soften Tom’s shadowed side, but the drama of this lighting is rather nice.

Catch Light

A portrait is about the person, and eyes which do not draw the viewer’s attention are dull and lifeless. Catch lighting is used to create a bright, white area of highlight in the eyes of the subject. This, though, is not red eye, which is caused by a reflection of light from the retina toward the viewer. Catch light set ups can range from simple to tricky. Here, the strobe was placed toward the front of the subject, and aimed toward the subject in such a way that red eye did not occur. Additionally, a fill light was used. As far as drama, there is little here, so the catch lights are not especially noticeable, but if they were not present, this would be even more boring and uninteresting. Below is a detail of the catch light.

Perspective

Corporate photos are bread and butter for a lot of people. These are full face and not too exciting. The purpose of the corporate photo is to present an image of solidity and dependability, as well as flattering perspectives of the management team, or whoever is being put on display. Photography for marketing or portraiture can put a whole new skew on things. Traditionally, it is considered “better” to shoot a man with certain poses or from certain perspectives, such as shooting upward. For women, the same applies, with a tradition of a downward shoot or traditionally feminine poses. Of course, this reeks of sexism and stereotyping, but used properly, they can create effective and attractive portraits. I shot this one of Tom from below (duh!), and as I am rather short I didn’t have to do much to get it. It has a nice bit of action to it, rather interesting side lighting, and a bit of a catch light. There is some glare on the glasses, but nothing which is especially distracting.

Commentary

There is nothing like doing something, and then analyzing what has been done. In writing this post, I realize how much I learned! Good lighting is necessary for success in portraiture – something, admittedly, I am not usually excited by nor interested in. However, this short class session has awakened an interest, as well as an appreciation for the portrait photographer. I think I will probably give portrait photography a bit more serious consideration in my photographic explorations.

Impressionism in Photography

The Impressionist movement in France was an art movement that came to the attention of the Parisian public from the 1870s onward. The name for this movement came from a single painting, by Claude Monet, entitled Impression, soleil levant. In painting, the emphasis is on the changing qualities of light, movement, perception, and a perspective heavily influenced by Japanese prints. Analogous movements of Impressionism emerged in the areas of non-visual arts, such as literature and music, as well as other visual arts. Here, we will look at in photography.

Every art requires a certain level of mastering its skills. Today, many pieces of “art” are labeled “impressionistic” to hide this lack of mastery, whether technical or artistic. However, I am not going to go into whether or not so-and-so is an artist; your artistic skill or taste is not what I want to explore (nor mine, for that matter, though, of course, I am somewhat prejudiced!). Instead, I want to look at history and techniques which the photographer might wish to consider, including myself.

In our time, photography is ubiquitous. It is found everywhere. Imagine, though, a time when the only way to preserve the appearance of anything visually – a person, a place, a thing, an idea – was to record it with lines, color, a sculpture. To do so meant access to scarce resources, invention and exploration, and training. When photography came into being, it was nothing short of miraculous. With a long history of painting preceding it, as well as the fact photography is the recording of the visual, its pictorial elements and abilities to capture permanently a fleeting moment of time, its ability to preserve reality was its primary purpose.

Early photography took time. The result was that one move would create blur. A person might twitch in the middle of a 20-minute exposure. The sun could shift. Some things in nature simply do not hold still. I expect the early photographers were quite frustrated by all this movement! Add to the frustration of motion is the fact that early photography was plagued by a lack of permanence because of the unknown qualities of chemical processes. Reality in sharp focus, along with image stability, quite likely were driving forces behind much of the research into chemistry.

Today, there is no issue with catching reality as it happens. Our technology is far beyond that of the early 1800s, and certainly exceeds that of only five years ago. Even so, in the last 150 years, the influence of cultural art movements as they were occurring could not but impact photography once it became accessible to the general public. Our times are no different. And, because our processes, both chemical and digital, are so stable, the need to change the image beyond a mere photograph drives us today. Hence, an interest in the creative elements of photography and a manipulation of the medium beyond a mere representation of reality. This need can be seen as a driving force behind today’s impressionistic photography.

Doing Lines

The visual is a primary part of our lives. Eyesight, unless you have a serious problem, is taken for granted. However, looking and seeing may be two very different things.

When we look, it is an objective experience. Our eyes take in, the nerves process, our bodies and minds react. Maybe we duck. Maybe we recognize. Looking, to me, is a function of existence, and probably an essential function evolved for safety and protection.

To see is a subjective experience. Seeing is taking the act of looking to a deeper level. This is where we may interpret a facial expression. We may delve deeper into an object, moving in close to gaze on minute detail, or move back to take in a wider vantage point. Whatever we do to see, we do to experience on a personal level, from whatever motivates us to go beyond the cursory glance.

For myself, it is the simpler things I find most attractive. While I enjoy and admire an artist’s ability to capture detail, to create reality in painting, I find myself drawn to an impression of something, a piece of something, When I paint or draw, I might work to capture an object, but I am not interested in infinitesimal detail but the spirit or energy of something. There is beauty in a solid object, a single stone, the curve of a tree branch, or the metallic grill of a car. A blurred facial expression captures the essence of our mortality. This part becomes greater than the whole and is representative of the whole – the shape, the form, the gestalt.

For the past several months, I have moved away from painting and into photography. At times, I find photography a rather cold process, simply because of the lack of a brush, and the follow-up with software. The sense of involvement is far less personal, and the frustration with sitting at a desk and playing with a computer does not make me feel artistic or creative. But, somewhere, a break-through has occurred, and I realized, when reviewing a lot of my photos, that the ones I enjoyed the most – looking at as well as creating – are the ones with a strong sense of line and shape, which in turn lead to a sense of movement or calm or a glimpse into another world.

I find that my photography is influenced by my study of sumi-e where the essential of something is far more important than the actual object. I also enjoy strong, graphical compositions, which can be seen in my favorite photos, and in some of my paintings. Dynamic lines and shapes are visually exciting and interesting as they lead your eye. Lines and shapes can also draw the viewer inward, into the heart of the artist.

In a gallery, whether physical or virtual, the first thing we do is look. Something suddenly attracts us, we hone in, and then begin to see. All this is subjective. A critic, though, will step back and look more objectively, and contemplate skill, rendering, compositional elements, contrast, detail, color, and so on. An artist must also do the same of his or her own work. The purpose of this is to learn from what we have done, and this becomes an impetus to continue, to learn more, to move in this or that direction. Critiquing one’s own work, and that of others, is an intellectual enterprise, while also being a subjective experience which leads to a complex of new emotions, thoughts, perspectives, and whatever else lies within. It is also another level of the artistic experience which works in strange and wonderful ways on creativity, vision, and expression.

Artists work to create expressions of an event, an experience, an emotion. Art can be visual, auditory, or experienced by other senses, such as touch or smell. Art can be kinetic – something we do physically. Art must be experienced – watching a play, seeing a painting, listening to a song, The artist experiences his own art by doing it, and then it is shared, and in the sharing, the artist moves beyond the moment and continues to grow. The same must be said for the viewer who participates by listening or seeing or doing. All together, art creates a mesh we all experience in our own unique ways, and binds us together in our humanity, creating a community whether or not we realize it, or choose to recognize or acknowledge it.

Too Much!

Some people learn things as they go along, living life on a daily basis and incorporating the new stuff without the disruption of everything else. Not me. When I am curious about something, I jump headlong with both feet. This has its good points and bad points, the worst being it can become obsession – luckily, it never does. The thing is, I am a collector. I collect information. I collect things. And I don’t usually get rid of stuff, either in my mind (though I will as senility approaches), in my closet, under my bed, or in the garage. Granted, when I return to that interest, costs are very insignificant!

Lately, in case you have not noticed, I have been doing a lot of photography, to the point I decided to set up a blog separate from Ink, Yarn & Beer. Here, I really want to get back into more personal things, such as the painting and knitting design, as well as just discussions or whatever I fancy. At that other blog I can focus on photography and what I am doing there, create my little encyclopedia of links, blither on about what I am doing. I’ve gotten a few hits there, mostly spam, but that blog, like this one, is for my own pleasure. And to create balance.

My artistic side finds photography rather frustrating, but I am beginning to see how it is tweaking me at the same time. Thinking about how something is made – effects, colors, process – begin to move into other areas. Looking at the petals of a rose make me wonder how I can capture them with a brush using ink or watercolor. Looking at the light shadows in an image make me consider contrast and detail in a painting and why something in a painting works, or does not. Realism does not need to be done, but the impact created by color, shadow, tone, shape gives an illusion of reality or its impression.

The fact is, any form of art is limited only by the person doing it. This can because of a lack of tools or innovation, or because one is still in the process of becoming or doing. I am limited by my interests in a lot of things – painting, knitting, reading, writing, photography, gardening, hiking, traveling – and it keeps me from doing anything well. On Outlook I have different activities scheduled weekly – creative activities – and that doesn’t help either! Regardless, the plan is to try to do a bit more of all of it, and be focused on it when I can.